it was funny, when it come out, stores were selling boxed units with the option to upgrade. Then after a month those all but disappeared. Now it looks like places like Microcenter are selling those boxed systems with the option to downgrade to Win 7.

Windows 8, underneath the eye candy, is the best Windows ever released. But, with Metro, Jesus I know the desktop metaphor is old as fark, but the mobile metaphor is even worse for keyboard + mice systems.

Yeah, probably because Microsoft is now charging another $100 for Windows 7. I will not subject my users to Windows 8. I care about them too much to do that, plus I don't want to deal with the support calls. If need be, I'll go bootleg on 7.

I'm a Mac guy in my private life since the mid-80s, but have had to use Windows for work since the 3.1 days. My in-laws bought me a Dell laptop with Win 7 a couple of years ago. Microsoft ran a deal back in January to get Win 8 for $40, so I upgraded, installed Pokki to replace the Start menu and avoid Metro ... and I think it's the best experience I've ever had with Windows. And it runs much faster than it ever did with Win 7 - it's like a brand-new machine.

Other than the dislike for Metro, which is understandable, I don't get all the hate.

Windows 8, underneath the eye candy, is the best Windows ever released. But, with Metro, Jesus I know the desktop metaphor is old as fark, but the mobile metaphor is even worse for keyboard + mice systems.

Agreed. Win8 runs smoother than most MS crap they've put out in years, it's just a pain to navigate around the Metro crap. I can ALMOST understand them trying to standardize an interface between phone / tablet / desktop. but the bottom line is that it just doesn't work.I neither expect nor want my desktop to behave the same as my phone. Even if I did, I'd probably prefer Android as a base instead of MS.

Solkar:Other than the dislike for Metro, which is understandable, I don't get all the hate.

Windows 8, underneath the eye candy, is the best Windows ever released. But, with Metro, Jesus I know the desktop metaphor is old as fark, but the mobile metaphor is even worse for keyboard + mice systems.

I like Win8. But I installed a start menu replacement, so I never see the metro crap and I have my start button back again.

What kills me are Win8 white nights who constantly tell people that they can do the same things they did before, but a different way. Most people, myself included, already know how to do things fast and don'tneed or want a different way.

I was tasked with getting my mother a new computer this year and I refused to even consider a system that came with Windows 8 because I wasn't comfortable getting her something that was so radically different that I was completely unfamiliar wtih.

The problem with microsoft is that they keep releasing products they think their customers SHOULD want, without putting much mind into what their customers actually DO want. Every other operating system they release greatly overreaches and then they have to bring themselves back down to Earth on the following O/S. Windows Vista sucked balls, which is why Windows 7 was so much better. Windows 8 is HORRIBLE, which is why Windows 9 will probably (hopefully) be fantasic.

What a derpy headline, considering this is a meat of the article: "Best Buy lowered its prices after a survey revealed that shoppers who bought touchscreen Windows 8 devices were "significantly happier" than those who bought PCs with a bog-standard display"

They're lowing the prices of touchscreen PC's by $100, because people like using Win 8 on a touchscreen. And this is somehow news?

MrSteve007:What a derpy headline, considering this is a meat of the article: "Best Buy lowered its prices after a survey revealed that shoppers who bought touchscreen Windows 8 devices were "significantly happier" than those who bought PCs with a bog-standard display"

They're lowing the prices of touchscreen PC's by $100, because people like using Win 8 on a touchscreen. And this is somehow news?

That's true for some, no doubt. But I absolutely loved Windows 7, best version ever. And it had some substantial changes over XP. I skipped Vista entirely. Different does not always mean better. But then, I still use the command prompt on a daily basis, guess I am a bit `old school'

I don't personally use it myself as my primary OS, though I have used Windows 8.

It's fine. There's nothing worth getting worked up on about it. 90% of you are going to go and stay in Desktop mode and never come out. The remaining 10% have either a tablet PC or a convertible laptop and will use Modern UI in tablet mode, but otherwise use Desktop mode.

Solkar:I'm a Mac guy in my private life since the mid-80s, but have had to use Windows for work since the 3.1 days. My in-laws bought me a Dell laptop with Win 7 a couple of years ago. Microsoft ran a deal back in January to get Win 8 for $40, so I upgraded, installed Pokki to replace the Start menu and avoid Metro ... and I think it's the best experience I've ever had with Windows. And it runs much faster than it ever did with Win 7 - it's like a brand-new machine.

Other than the dislike for Metro, which is understandable, I don't get all the hate.

You answered your own question. IOW, if one is technically proficient enough to effectively convert 8 into 7, as you are, it's a great OS. For those who are not, or whose work situation won't allow it, 8 is the anti-Christ of OS's.

/hates the Win8 on my new laptop, but getting used to its bass-ackwards way of doing everything

I don't understand why aren't all the Windows 8 machines touchscreen? I went into Wal-Mart the other day and NONE of them were touchscreen. Granted Wal-Mart isn't exactly a computer store, but none of them? Really?

Microsoft should have made it a requirement that computers have a touchscreen to be "Windows 8 capable" or something.

Solkar:I'm a Mac guy in my private life since the mid-80s, but have had to use Windows for work since the 3.1 days. My in-laws bought me a Dell laptop with Win 7 a couple of years ago. Microsoft ran a deal back in January to get Win 8 for $40, so I upgraded, installed Pokki to replace the Start menu and avoid Metro ... and I think it's the best experience I've ever had with Windows. And it runs much faster than it ever did with Win 7 - it's like a brand-new machine.

Other than the dislike for Metro, which is understandable, I don't get all the hate.

Does Windows 8 do the same thing that Server 2012 does when you change the windows colors (font, links, that sort of thing) from the ugly as hell defaults to something reasonable? When you do it in 2012, it carries over to your browsers, making them nearly impossible to use.

Haven't used Win 8, but already have a hate on for 2012, I'm only installing it without the UI at this point.

vpb:You can even get a program to replace the start menu if you want it. Or get a touch mouse or just learn how to organize it. People don't like Win8 because it isn't what they are used to.

It's not just not what they are used to. While home PC use is certainly an important market, business computing is huge, and metro is a huge middle finger to business use. The desktop style works, the table style just doesn't. Not for business use. Sometimes "if it's not broke, don't fix it" should be taken to heart.

Granted it's easy to install classic shell and forget about it, but most IT departments are already overtaxed and don't need to spend time fixing what is essentially a broken UI from Microsoft.

MrSteve007:What a derpy headline, considering this is a meat of the article: "Best Buy lowered its prices after a survey revealed that shoppers who bought touchscreen Windows 8 devices were "significantly happier" than those who bought PCs with a bog-standard display"

They're lowing the prices of touchscreen PC's by $100, because people like using Win 8 on a touchscreen. And this is somehow news?

I see an awkward attempt not to use negatives. The article is a "fair and balanced" spin on the fact that nobody can move Win8 desktops and laptops - you know, actual computers operated with a keyboard and mouse - so they slashed prices.

Windows 8, underneath the eye candy, is the best Windows ever released. But, with Metro, Jesus I know the desktop metaphor is old as fark, but the mobile metaphor is even worse for keyboard + mice systems.

The good thing is MS can recover from this, if they want. Win8 has solid internals and all you need to do is churn out a classic GUI style for Windows 9. Win7 is glorious and really it is just Vista SP 2.5, so turning around Win8 can't be that hard.

Slaxl:nekom: Yeah, it's going to be another "Me" style flop. I've already made the decision to ban any talk of windows 8 at work, under penalty of torture.

ME sucked because it was shiat, right? I remember it crashing lots. Win 8 is crap because it doesn't have a start menu button on the task bar. As far as I can tell everything else is the same as Win7.

Yeah, install Shell Classic or whatever, and applications to take over the various inbuilt Modern UI (like a pdf viewer, etc.), and you forget you have even changed - been using it for a few months for work and haven't had any issues once I took the plunge and installed a third party mod to de-Metro it.

It's the shear arrogance of Microsoft forcing Metro on people that pisses me off. It should come with a simple option to disable that mess. I'm no Apple fanboy, but at least when they introduced some "mobile" type features into OS X they were entirely optional (Launch Pad, natural scrolling, etc.)

I'm going to be stubborn this time. I refuse to install it until they decide to not force the crappy UI on me (I don't care if there are 3rd party workarounds). Apparently the IT department at the university I work at agrees with me.

Gunny Walker:I don't understand why aren't all the Windows 8 machines touchscreen? I went into Wal-Mart the other day and NONE of them were touchscreen. Granted Wal-Mart isn't exactly a computer store, but none of them? Really?

Microsoft should have made it a requirement that computers have a touchscreen to be "Windows 8 capable" or something.

So they'd cut their desktop/laptop market to roughly 10% of what it is now? Not likely. MS still has a strong need for their current OS to dominate the entire PC market. Their newest release can't just be for touchscreen systems and devices.

Dr. Whoof:Granted it's easy to install classic shell and forget about it, but most IT departments are already overtaxed and don't need to spend time fixing what is essentially a broken UI from Microsoft.

Right now, most companies are likely either migrating to Windows 7, or have just finished moving to it and in either case would not be even considering a move to Windows 8. It's possible that MS knew that Win 8 would have low adoption rates in businesses, which would give them another 3 years to refine the new UI to something that works for businesses. It always takes MS two major releases of Windows to get things right

What I don't get is why Microsoft ever felt the need to inflict Win8 upon us in the form that they did. I get that you want to leverage touch screens, move in the direction of common UI themes across multiple platforms, etc. That said make it so Win8 has a switch in it where you can either do a Win7 desktop style or the Win8 tiles. Let the consumer pick.

For example a tablet that ran around in tile model, but could be set so when your bluetooth keyboard and mouse connected it automatically flipped over to the classic UI would be nice. A laptop that detected when you folder the screen over into slate mode and switched to tiles would also be awesome. Tiles could also exist in the classic UI like widgets. Let me pick how much I want. Like just a row of the touch tiles on the bottom of the screen.

Each UI has its perks, so while the hell did anyone think it was a good idea to make you pick just one?

/also Windows should be smart enough to determine if each monitor is touch table or not and react. Another awesome mode would be my giant 24" monitor in front of me and a 15" touch monitor lying flat on the desk that I can use to input commands

The big problem for me is that Win 8 farks up my workflow because I have lost all those helpful jump lists in the Start Menu. When going back to recent documents, I usually just go to the Start Menu, select the app, then mouse over to the Recent docs opened with that app. There's just not a good way to replicate that workflow with Win 8, and having a flat folder structure for the Start Screen doesn't work well with many legacy apps.